Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

[Daehawk]

I was gifted Wildlands and Ive tried to play it but my video card does not like it. It plays badly....but if I turn it down too far it looks bad lol.

[coopasonic]

That's actually the reason I've stayed away from Wildlands. I've heard from multiple sources that it's great in coop, but mediocre solo.

It might be mediocre in comparison to co-op, but to those of that don't play co-op I think it is very good. Lots to do and some decent challenge. It's sort of like a more realistic Just Cause 3.

Hey, did anyone mention Just Cause 3? It's a little nuts, but also fun. (Note: I liked 2 better, but it has been a long time)

[NickAragua]

Call of Pripyat is pretty much the pinnacle of the series, IMO. It's actually got a storyline, it's well-polished and fun to play.

The faction warfare in Clear Sky was kind of fun but ultimately pointless except in the very first zone.

If you're going back to the older ones, I might recommend the fan remake of the first one.

[jztemple2]

That's actually the reason I've stayed away from Wildlands. I've heard from multiple sources that it's great in coop, but mediocre solo.

It might be mediocre in comparison to co-op, but to those of that don't play co-op I think it is very good. Lots to do and some decent challenge. It's sort of like a more realistic Just Cause 3.

I played through the whole Wildlands game in solo mode and it was quite enjoyable. The map is huge and quite varied, much more than Just Cause 3, actually more like Just Cause 2. High mountains to deserts to wetlands to urban areas. The missions for the most part aren't scripted as they are in, say, the Far Cry campaigns, but the AI is still enough of a challenge that you really have to plan and use the terrain. Your AI teammates are pretty smart and the controls for using them are easy to pick up. Stealth works very well in GRW too and is essential for some missions. I rarely finish these big open world games as they start feeling rather repetitious, but GRW was fun all the way through.

[Brian]

That's actually the reason I've stayed away from Wildlands. I've heard from multiple sources that it's great in coop, but mediocre solo.

It might be mediocre in comparison to co-op, but to those of that don't play co-op I think it is very good. Lots to do and some decent challenge. It's sort of like a more realistic Just Cause 3.

Hey, did anyone mention Just Cause 3? It's a little nuts, but also fun. (Note: I liked 2 better, but it has been a long time)

I played it primarily in solo mode and really enjoyed it but the limited co-op play time I got was quite fun.
Of course, it very much matters who you play with. During solo play I was way more tactical in my approaches (picking off sentry and perimeter guards first, methodically disabling alarms and antenna, etc) where co-op tended to be more going in guns blazing and wipe everybody out as quickly as possible.

[jztemple2]

That's actually the reason I've stayed away from Wildlands. I've heard from multiple sources that it's great in coop, but mediocre solo.

It might be mediocre in comparison to co-op, but to those of that don't play co-op I think it is very good. Lots to do and some decent challenge. It's sort of like a more realistic Just Cause 3.

Hey, did anyone mention Just Cause 3? It's a little nuts, but also fun. (Note: I liked 2 better, but it has been a long time)

I played it primarily in solo mode and really enjoyed it but the limited co-op play time I got was quite fun.
Of course, it very much matters who you play with. During solo play I was way more tactical in my approaches (picking off sentry and perimeter guards first, methodically disabling alarms and antenna, etc) where co-op tended to be more going in guns blazing and wipe everybody out as quickly as possible.

One of the cool things in the game when playing solo is that you can give your AI teammates targets but have them all hold off shooting until you have your own target selected. Very fulfilling when you can take down four tangos at once.

[Daehawk]

Call of Pripyat is pretty much the pinnacle of the series, IMO. It's actually got a storyline, it's well-polished and fun to play.

The faction warfare in Clear Sky was kind of fun but ultimately pointless except in the very first zone.

If you're going back to the older ones, I might recommend the fan remake of the first one.

I agree though i did really love the first one also. Clear Skies was the same map as the first one and I felt cheated on it.

CoP was great though. I loved starting with the boat base and moving out. With the mods I used the blowouts were amazing. You'd hear the warning and see the storm forming. then it would actually roll from the horizon at you...was scary as hell. Plus they were strong...instant death if caught out in one.

This is a blowout forming.


One rolling upon you.


A blowout.


I got caught out with one almost ready to strike and nowhere to hide that I saw. Worse it was a save point and each time it killed me I spawned with it about to hit. Each time I reloaded Id run a different direction. Pure blind dumb luck on one of those runs I found a drain pipe and scuttled in...phew. Blowouts can be terrifying. And they were the one feature I loved SO much. They are what drew me to the games. Being out having a random storm that can kill you pop up is always on your mind and so cool.

Of course you can mod them out or to take no damage but that is no fun at all.

[Blackhawk]

I played it primarily in solo mode and really enjoyed it but the limited co-op play time I got was quite fun.
Of course, it very much matters who you play with. During solo play I was way more tactical in my approaches (picking off sentry and perimeter guards first, methodically disabling alarms and antenna, etc) where co-op tended to be more going in guns blazing and wipe everybody out as quickly as possible.

I remember when we started playing Rainbow Six: Siege a while back. I started by trying the tactical approach - careful entries behind flashbangs, drone scouting, clearing to the objective and to the extraction rather than deathmatching the house, the whole nine yards. Almost invariably every match immediately led to everybody running in a different direction, barreling in, and then us trying to ride the chaos until the end. Eventually I just gave up and went with the status quo.

I really love a good tactical game, but it is hard to get people to cooperate.

[Brian]

Mostly because if we were playing with Dave we'd end up still stacked on the door waiting to toss a flash bang and he'd have already killed everybody in the building and was now in a diner down the street having empenadas with the hostage he rescued.

[Paingod]

I got STALKER CoP installed last night, along with Nature, Structure, and Sky graphics mods. I immediately had to hunt for a FOV mod to prevent the headache that was forming, and then promptly found a zero head bob mod to prevent projectile vomiting. I'm considering an inventory mod to bump me up from 50kg to 70kg. I don't mind inventory management, but with a "good" loadout leaving my base, I'm at 35-37kg, leaving me 15kg at best before I start to slow down. That's really tight.

The only real issue I've run into is some abysmal AI. STALKERS and Bandits fight each other in the wild, and will (often) wiggle ineffectively at each other or do a little happy dance while they're stuck on each other. A lesser issue is the way creatures/mutants rush right past Bandits and STALKERS to charge at me, even if I'm not the one shooting.

Otherwise, enjoying the setting and atmosphere.

*Edit: I'm eyeing the "Complete" mod from 2011 that's supposed to overhaul everything, including some AI... and a flashlight mod to extend the range from 20m to 70m. 20m is really short. I feel like I'm walking around with a lantern at night.

[Unagi]

I miss City of Heroes.
I'd love to play that MMO with my two kids.

[Paingod]

I miss City of Heroes.
I'd love to play that MMO with my two kids.

So many +++1's...

I logged hundreds of hours in that game and returned to it very regularly throughout the game's lifespan. I even logged in to bid it farewell on the last day the servers were alive, though it had been a few months since my last visit.

I'd love for them to release this and give people the tools to run their own servers, but I understand that's not really easily achievable. I miss my Robot Mastermind, Dread Assembler, most of all.

[Isgrimnur]

TechRaptor

A number of adult-oriented Steam games have allegedly received communications from Valve stating that they must change their games or face removal from the store according to multiple sources. Starting things off, dating sim/puzzle game hybrid HuniePop may have to remove content from the game after allegedly receiving an e-mail from Valve according to a tweet from the game’s developer.
...
HuniePop is a game that mixes dating sim elements with a match 3 puzzle game. Part of the dating sim elements include graphic scenes depicting nudity. However, developers of similar games stated that Valve had a policy of allowing this content so long as the developers distributed it in a separate file. Valve has seemingly moved away from that stance last year, mandating that developers can no longer distribute uncensor patches via the Steam Community or provide instructions on how to install them. At the moment, HuniePop still lists the uncensor patch on their Steam Community page.

[Daehawk]

So where do adults buy games?

[Paingod]

I don't blame Steam for wanting to back away from becoming known as a porn supplier if they want to cater to the largest market. It was one thing when some games simply included nudity. Games where it's a central focus or goal don't exactly belong on a family-friendly platform. I don't know what their stipulations and lines in the sand are, but I'd wager I'm close to the cause.

Where to buy? You may end up having to find them for sale directly from developers.

Is there a full list of affected games or developers floating around? I'm willing to bet they didn't just carpet-bomb all the MA rated games, but rather hit the MA games where nudity was a goal.

I'll have to look into it more to know for sure. *Edit: Looked at a few of the titles in the article, and the theme seems to be Anime+Nudity that's getting swept. I didn't see games like Skyrim where nudity mods can be added, or The Witcher 3 where it's incidental.

[Daehawk]

They could simply make them their own area. I dont even care about them but I dont like censorship and prudity in an adult world.

[Isgrimnur]

In the wider scope of the whole scenario, Mangagamer’s Press Director had something to say on the subject in a press release from the company:

“This is terrible news for everyone in the visual novel industry and the gaming industry as whole. We followed every guideline provided to us by Valve to the letter, so there is no reason for this title to be cut off when it has conformed to the standards provided. The sexual content present in Kindred Spirits is no worse that what can readily be found in titles like The Witcher series, yet those remain unaffected. When we launched Gahkthun of the Golden Lightning on Steam, we took it through the ESRB rating system because it featured content that was slightly more explicit than that of Kindred Spirits, and that passed review with a Mature rating, not AO.

The company has reaffirmed their commitment to publishing adult-oriented games on their independent platform. They’re not the only ones, of course – adult digital games distributor Nutaku has put out a similar statement on their Twitter account inviting any and all affected developers to submit games to their platform where they will be able to peddle their wares free of censorship:



If Valve has for some reason decided to bring the hammer down on hentai/pornographic games, it seems that there are at least two companies who are all too happy to step up and host the developer’s work on their platforms. We are still waiting to hear from a number of companies involved in this situation. We’ll continue to update the piece as new details come to light.

[Blackhawk]

So where do adults buy games?

Some time ago you sold me on Wallpaper Engine. I browsed and downloaded probably 50. When I went through and checked them, several were hardcore porn films disguised as something benign. It's been cleaned up since, but I can't really blame Steam for wanting to change public perception of them, especially when they want kids to be able to play games on their platform. The last thing they want is to get a reputation as a source for porn, or worse, to get regulated as if they were.

[Daehawk]

Never saw them. Did see some borderline anime stuff but I dont use anime stuff. besides Im married so I use space and sci fi and the occasional fantasy barbarian babe

[hitbyambulance]

It was one thing when some games simply included nudity. Games where it's a central focus or goal don't exactly belong on a family-friendly platform.

but do carry on with the family-friendliness of DOOM, Saint's Row, GTA, Manhunt, Hotline: Miami, Payday, Biohazard, The Evil Within, Sniper, Bulletstorm, Postal, Hatred, etc

[Kasey Chang]

It's as if Steam just suddenly got bothered by conservative values. Nudity is no good, but violence? No problem.

[Daehawk]

Im using this pic of Widowmaker from Overwatch as my wallpaper. My wife looks at it and asked "Who is the girl with the big metal butt?"
https://wallpapersite.com/games/widowm ... -6227.html

[Isgrimnur]

Spoiler:

--- #WAIFUHOLOCAUST UPDATE ---
I have just received word from Valve apologizing for the confusion, saying to DISREGARD their previous e-mail about the violation, that they are in the process of re-reviewing the game and will follow up soon.

[Kasey Chang]

I have their first game. It's no more offensive than "When Harry Meets Sally" (the orgasm sounds). Their subsequent game, HunieCam, would be a controversial TOPIC, but the game itself is pretty tame. (It's about opening a CamGirl studio and keeping the girls happy, recruit more girls, and keep the money rolling in)

I mean, Steam, in approving games like Machiavalli, that game where you operate a mansion where you eviscerate visitors, albeit in a cartoon style, or even Friday the 13th games, and all the zombie games, seems to be really overreacting to the tame anime-risque games.

[Kasey Chang]

Playing Car Mechanic Simulator 2015. I don't have all the DLCs, just the one included with the bundle, but so far it's pretty cool. They had to simplify the parts list, and you can't keep two things on the same screen so you have to flip back and forth between the parts you need and the ordering screen, that's PITA. But the general principle of autorepair are there. Start with simple stuff like change the filters, progress to finding stuff in the suspensions, then take apart the engines, do body work, and I just got enough XP to buy the paint booth so I can offer paint services.

Apparently when you get to about 9000 XP you can buy a lot behind the garage for storage, and it becomes your sorta personal auto collection, as you take the money to buy cars from auctions, fix them up, and sell them to make even more money, spending them on the cars you keep, customize them, and so on. There's a user mod community AND there's like a dozen of the official DLCs if you need more content, like SUVs and trucks, body stripes, licensed vehicles like Bentley and Maserati... and so on.

Once you got your own car, there are drag strips and test tracks to play with your car. I just went past 5000 XP so it may be a while to hit 9000.

EDIT: I'm almost 7000 XP now, and I'm getting more advanced cars, as well as just "find what's wrong". Previously you're given a list of parts to replace on the easier cars. Now things are getting complicated.

I do have a complaint... The waste oil collector is a PITA to put into the right place to catch the drain. I seem to get it wrong half the time and spill the oil onto the floor, necessitating a hazard cleanup fee.

There's supposed to be an 'expert mode' where you get twice the XP, but you no longer get hints like what order to assemble the parts and the nuts and bolts are no longer highlighted.

[Paingod]

It was one thing when some games simply included nudity. Games where it's a central focus or goal don't exactly belong on a family-friendly platform.

but do carry on with the family-friendliness of DOOM, Saint's Row, GTA, Manhunt, Hotline: Miami, Payday, Biohazard, The Evil Within, Sniper, Bulletstorm, Postal, Hatred, etc

Such is America. I think Steam is drawing a line in the sand to let developers know that they're not the place to host a certain kind of game - not just "MA" Rated games, but games that weigh in heavily on the porn side. I'm sure there's going to be some back and forth, but on the whole, I think the vast majority of Steam's customer base won't be bothered by the change.

[JetFred]

Correct me if I'm oversimplifying this, but are they just saying that if they want to continue offering nude patches, they'll have to offer them on their own sites and not link to them in the Steam community? That doesn't even seem like a change to me. I have gotten quite a lot of that type of game in "anime bundles" and they tend to be titillating but not actually nude unless you patch them. Is that actually a change? Are we talking about drawings of pee-pees penetrating ha-has or just nipples and lips drawn in? There are whole "manga gamer" sites that offer much more porn-intentional games that I've never known to be on Steam anyway. And not to sound prudish or pious myself, but I've never bought one of those because if you visit one of those sites, you realize this is a whole different ball game than Sakura Whatever on Steam.

[Paingod]

Yeah - I think this is much ado about nothing, or very little. Time will tell.

In other Randomness, my time in STALKER: Call of Pripyat has been fun. In total I needed four mods:

• Complete, which changes the visuals, AI, loading screens, memory usage, bumps capacity by 10kg, and a host of other things. Cured the "broken" AI and looks pretty good.
• FOV, set to 90, becayse I don't like headaches.
• No Head Bob, because I don't like motion sickness.
• Merchants Buy Everything, because it baffled me that a gun at 80% durability at least had some good parts left in it, but one at 50% doesn't. Plus, Complete changes values so there's not even a small profit in repairing guns and selling them - it's a complete loss.

That's it. Having a grand time.

I only just discovered the 'Sprint' button last night. Now I have even more reason to leave the house with an empty inventory... if I'm down around 25 out of 70kg (+10 from my armor upgrade), I can sprint almost infinitely - so getting to an objective on the map is cake. Getting back, same slower jog with a stuffed inventory.

Fought those damn dwarves last night. Not amused. It cost me $10,000 to put my favorite gun back together after they pulled it away from me and I couldn't find it again at the end of the fight.

[Daehawk]

Stopped by my local gas station quick stop to grab some breakfast.

SIDE NOTE here.... if you order 2 meatloaf biscuit and one with sausage and they instead give you 1 meatloaf biscuit and 1 meatloaf biscuit with an extra sausage patty on it instead of its own biscuit...dont turn it down. Its YUMMY that way.

Anyways the guy that runs it and owns it is India indian and they are SO nice but a little hard to understand at times. He was asking if its been a while since I was in and I say no that he wasn't there last time it was a woman working. He then asked me something and I misheard him and I said it was long haired blonde working. My wife started laughing and said "Im his wife so with me standing here thats a good answer". I wasn't sure what was up but in the car she said he asked me "Did she have big boobs?" hahahahahah Man I dodged a bullet by accident.

[Smoove_B]

I don't remember that part in Firewatch, but I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[Daehawk]

Meant that for regular randomness...sigh.

[jztemple2]

IBM XT ad from a 1987 issue of Fire & Movement magazine:



And all the systems on sale (click to enlarge):

[Daehawk]

'super turbo' Wow@! We dont even have that today.

[Isgrimnur]

Turbo button

The turbo button was added to many computers using CPUs faster than the original 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 used in the IBM Personal Computer. Some software titles (games in particular) used the CPU's frequency for timing, so as faster chips came out, some of these games were unplayable. To provide a layer of compatibility for these titles, the "turbo" button was added.

Disengaging turbo mode slows the system down to a state compatible with original 8086/8088 chips. On most systems, turbo mode was with the button pushed in, but since the button could often be wired either way, on some systems it was the opposite. The turbo button was linked to a turbo LED or MHz display on the system case, although the indicated MHz was not always accurate. In almost all cases the display wasn't a measure of the speed, but the two "fast" and "slow" display options were set by jumpers on the motherboard (or a daughterboard linked to the button), or on some later machines, set in the BIOS software.
...
The turbo button became less important as software was released which automatically compensated for varying speeds,[3] a trend which began in approximately 1988.[4]

[KDH]

.

IBM XT ad from a 1987 issue of Fire & Movement magazine:

Taco Bell has its own magazine? ... Cool

[Kasey Chang]

Played a bit "Blueprint Tycoon". It's VERY definitely an indy title with minimal polish. The UI looks like it's designed by someone in pre-school, but the play mechanics is there. It's basically a game where the whole point is to setup assembly lines to build stuff, and slowly upgrade your line to make even better stuff. The game is pausable real-time with acceleration, as are most tycoon-type games, but I don't see a hotkey to change time scale or pause.

The problem is it's VERY easy to overextend yourself in the game, and once you do, your workers go on strike and it's pretty much over. You pretty much have to build slowly, instead of like 3 buildings at once, it's one at a time, then build some more to improve the profit margin. It's interesting.

Upon further review, it's getting to be boring instead. Typical progression goes like this:

Build worker housing, build market (so the workers can eat), build veggie farm (to supply market),

Build carpenter (supply wood for building), build iron mine (for iron ore), build iron refinery (make iron ingots) for level 2 buildings

Build researcher housing, build lab, build "red vial" (supply lab) which takes wood and iron ore.

Do research (build enough vials to generate "blueprints") do enough until you can research "level 2", then research "cheese" under level 2.

build cattle farm (supply butcher), build butcher (supply beef), build milker (supply milk), build cheesemaker (supply cheese)

You also need to "colonize" other islands in the vicinity by spending "coins", which are generated by taking "resources" (such as the ones you're already generating). But it's just basically prerequisites after prerequisites as the supply chain goes nuts. When you go betwene islands, you need to have ships moving the cargo back and forth. But ships only take stuff to port, which is not the "delivery storage" that send stuff to be export for money. So you need to build roads to link everything.

Level 2 buildings (after you researched it) can also generate waste, which means you have to create a waste disposal facility and link that to your network. If you don't, once the waste clogs up the supply line everything screeches to a halt.

It just feels too... unwieldy.

[Kasey Chang]

Figured something else out in Blueprint Tycoon...

1) Placement, at least when it comes to the actual product pipeline, *does* matter in terms of efficiency. For example, in the pipeline cows -> milk -> cheese, the less the peeps have to walk the faster your production goes. But it may take more than one "cow farm" to supply enough milk to make cheese. If you have the right placement, you can get by with minimum workers as they have very short trips (individual workers are simulated walking back and forth carrying stuff). If you have the wrong placement... then you'll have to dedicate more workers as runners to account for the transit time. And this makes organizing the whole place EXTREMELY complicated.

2) You *can* put all the employee housing (workers, researchers, and engineers) on a DIFFERENT island. However, that also means their market and other food supplies have to go with them. And market had to be "centrally located" as somehow the workers won't walk very far to get their food, and if they don't get their food they complain, your reputation falls, and when it falls below a certain point your researchers goes on strike.

3) There is no tree or chart that explains all the manufacturing intricacies, and apparently you can FURTHER tweak the manufacturing by actually 'editing' the blueprints (assembly formulas) instead of relying on the default ones.

4) Some items, like the waste disposal, don't come with a default plan activated, which means the waste disposal unit doesn't work UNTIL you click on the "use default blueprint", and NO other building (so far) does this. This is practically a bug.

It's weirdly retro AND modern at the same time. "Airship" in this game = "hot air balloon", and "(cargo) ship" means a sailing ship, but the way modules are built is one or more blimps comes out of the "construction yard" and bangs the module together.

While it's somewhat charming, I got burned out just playing the tutorial, where I was supposed to create a manufacturing empire that produces jewelry, but to get there, I have to do a LOT of **** on the way

* harvest and export wood (which means I need to create workers and their market and veggies too)
* mine iron ore (and later, refine into iron ingots) (and more workers)
* farm cows and create meat processing and milk processing (and more workers, and more research)
* research lab, associated "researcher" and their unique food chain (require meat, thus cows above)
* Powering the lab requires "red vial" which requires wood and iron ore, and later "blue vial" which needs sand and gold ore
* Once you got gold ore you can build a refinery to produce gold ingots (and export those)
* Once you got milk, you can research cheese (level 2) and export THAT instead
* Level 2 structures require "engineers", which only eats "meals", which requires a processing plant that combines both meat and veggies
* Waste had to be carried to waste disposal, and all sorts of waste are created, from meat processing to iron refining.

Did I bore you to death yet? As your exports change, your ENTIRE pipeline changes, with a ton of dependencies going with it. Do you shut down the wood and iron ore production when you no longer export them? Nope, you need them to make the "coins" (which are needed for upgrades), or airships, or cargo ships... You can put some modules to "sleep" to free up the workers (like production to support the research.) Do you retask the production to supply research and risk your other pipeline stalling, or build extra and shut them down as needed, and risk deficit spending?

This is a micro-manager's dream, but also a nightmare, because the UI is, to put it plainly, HORRIBLE. There is no clear display of what's exchanged for what. Does the meat plant generate 1 meat out of 1 cow? Does it take 3 milk to make 1 cheese? Add that to the "transfer pipeline placement" and it's EXTREMELY messy. Instead of an overview of what's running smoothly or not, the ONLY sign of whether a module is performing at efficiency is its incoming queue and outgoing queue (if incoming is zero, it's not getting enough stock, and if outgoing is zero, either it's at full capacity or there's not enough people assigned to moving the goods). Also, instead of seeing the related modules (supply / demand) automatically, you have to click through, and you just see a list, not visual linkage.

All in all, Blueprint Tycoon feels like an indy gamer's attempt to make something. While charming, it's not that playable, IMHO.

[KDH]

.
.... ... Digital Extremes' Chinese owner stealthily launches new US publisher
.
. It has acquired UK studio Splash Damage, Warframe creator Digital Extremes and a 20% stake in Certain Affinity.

Spoiler:

... Wednesday 23rd May 2018

Athlon Games based in Burbank, owned by Leyou Technologies, and specialises in free-to-play games



Leyou Technologies has quietly opened a new games publisher in the USA: Athlon Games. Leyou is perhaps best known for being the China-based manufacturer of chicken products that has been increasingly investing in video games studios. It has acquired UK studio Splash Damage, Warframe creator Digital Extremes (back when it was known as Sumpo Food Holdings) and a 20% stake in Certain Affinity.

Now it has emerged that Leyou has launched a games publishing division called Athlon Games. The new company was first noticed by a Warframe player and member of the Resetera forums, showing State of California documents about Leyou establishing itself in the Los Angeles area and revealing some of the key employees. A quick trip to LinkedIn confirms that Athlon Games is "the publishing division of Leyou Technologies Holdings Limited" and is based in Burbank, California, with links to Leyou's offices in London and Beijing.

The company says it "develops and globally publishes free-to-play games for consoles and PC/MAC". The URL www.athlongames.com currently redirects to Leyou Technologies' corporate site, although a logo can be found on a page detailing its games interests. The new venture is headed up by general manager and head of global publishing Dave Miller - formerly VP of global brand marketing at Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment, where he handled launches such as Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Mad Max. Prior to this, he worked at Codemasters and THQ.

Miller seems to have joined when the company first established in December 2017, followed by senior global brand director Craig Mitchell in February 2018. Mitchell is another former marketing exec of Warner Bros, having moved there after six years at THQ. The only other employee currently listed on Richard Browne, who previously worked at THQ's Core Studios. He joined Athlon in March 2018, taking the role of vice president for production.

[Kasey Chang]

Trying to play "Coast Guard", the fictional coast-guard adventure game that tries to create some drama, but the controls are horrendous and made no sense.

The driving a ship and chase the other is simple enough. And running up and down the stairs on your own ship is pretty cool. Your coast guard cutter (no specific country is equipped with a daughterboat so you can do something else while your main ship is tied up. There's a scenario where I need to put the fire out on a ship, then rescue the 5 people in the water. Putting out the fire is easy enough, but using the daughterboat to pick up the folks is impossible without running them over. Apparently the only way you can pick up victims is somehow, get alongside them in medium seas (4-6 ft waves) and click on them, instead of throwing liferings out to them. They apparently also are unable to swim, despite being fishermen. And if you took too long to pick them up, the game automatically reloads the mission, instead of telling you "You lose!" Nor are you given a timer. WTF?!

[Daehawk]

You play some bad and brutal games Kasey just saying.