Octopus Overlords

Hipolito wrote:This?

Ah, it's one of those games Steam wants people to buy long before it's anywhere close to finished. Well, I guess that would explain why there's no information anywhere else. The release date was listed as April 4th, so it seemed weird that there was no mention of it on the gaming sites.

Man, I forgot how much fun the Homeworld series can be.

With so much drive space, I'd rather not have to fumble with looking for discs when I could simply mount the image of it, so I 'archived' all three games last night - burned them to ISO files - and installed them. It took some finagling - apparently the copy protection creates 'bad sectors' on the disc to thwart ISO burning and you still need a 'No-CD' EXE file to bypass it, even with the game "disc" mounted. I was a little dismayed, but got it working.

I figured I'd jump into Homeworld 2 as it's the least recent one I've played (though I really enjoy Cataclysm for the Beast and the horror of it). It kept me up past my bedtime ...which I didn't intend to do. Good games. I keep wanting to go back and "do better" with the missions. I don't recall if I ever managed to save all 6 crew ships before, but managed it this time. The bonus crews add 2 Elite Gunships and 2 Elite Bombers... which kick a good bit of ass over the standard versions.

I prefer some things from Cataclysm, though - like crews gaining experience in combat (making it much more worth saving them) and I LOVE the ships that combine to form larger ships ... but Homeworld 2 doesn't make me wait to scavenge all the resources in a given sector before being allowed to move on.

I really liked Final Fantasy XIV when I played as a tank...I absolutely love it now that I switched to a DPS. Being able to run dungeons without the frustration and pressure of tanking (which I was never very good at to start with) is so much better. It took the one part of the game that I hated (i.e. the group instances) and turned them into something I really look forward to running every day.

Supreme Commander seems to have that problem of being able to lose 30-60 minutes of gameplay progress because you keep forgetting to save in-mission progress. Ah, well, at least there is in-mission saves. If there weren't, I would have chucked it on the Abandoned pile long ago.

My one attempt to play Supreme Commander (the first one) met with failure. Wouldn't run on my win7 system and I didn't care enough to find out why. Supreme Commander 2 got a fair amount of play time. Very TA-like.

Madmarcus wrote:

Isgrimnur wrote:There's a demo for Kingdoms of Amalur. In January, the base game was on sale for $6, the collection for $12.

Finished it already.

Try The Secret World. Single player mmo

Torfish wrote:Played Heroes of the Storm this weekend. Got in the alpha this week. Only intended to play an hour to see what it was like and it turned into the entire weekend. I've only played this type of game once (DOTA2), but it was difficult to learn and I stopped after a couple of hours. Heroes is much much easier to jump right in and the game speed feels right. Graphics remind me of an updated Warcraft 3. Enjoying it for now.

I played for the first time this weekend. Got up to Level 7. I've never played Dota or the like. I find this fun, but the prices they have listed for stuff is ridiculous. $20 for a mount?! Someone pays these prices?!

playing Doom3 for the first time since it came out.... learning to deal again with the gun OR flashlight gameplay mechanic. i was looking at the old comments from this here forum ca. 2004 and it's funny how many people complained about it being 'too long'! how often do you hear that about any current game, a decade later... yeah, it's samey and repetitive and on rails and linear as hell (is Hell linear?), but it did get me out of my gaming stasis.

still like Serious Sam better!

Patience can sometimes be a curse in games. Playing through Deus Ex: Human Revolution, I'm exploring Detroit and found a gun dealer. Now I go to him to sell every "type" of gun I find before I pick up another copy of it. I've probably 'wasted' over an hour just running back and forth as I clear out areas. I've got a bundle of cash, though. Something like $18,000 and I haven't even left Detroit after the intro mission.

Being a hoarder also stinks. I'm currently accumulating one of every gun I find and all the ammo for them in my apartment - more running. I've read that everything in there will stay put, but may be unavailable at times. I'm fine with that. I'm doing 100% non-lethal & stealthy if I can, so I don't need a pile of assault weapons... but I still want to mod my guns and make them 'cooler' while they sit in storage.

I much preferred the method in Hitman (I forget which), where you'd find a gun in a mission and as long as you left with it, it became a permanent part of your armory and had it's own spot on the wall.

hitbyambulance wrote:playing Doom3 for the first time since it came out.... learning to deal again with the gun OR flashlight gameplay mechanic.

Duct Tape Mod. It's inconceivable that a space marine in a high-tech facility can't find a single roll of Duct Tape to adhere a flashlight to the barrel of his guns.

Paingod wrote:Patience can sometimes be a curse in games. Playing through Deus Ex: Human Revolution, I'm exploring Detroit and found a gun dealer. Now I go to him to sell every "type" of gun I find before I pick up another copy of it. I've probably 'wasted' over an hour just running back and forth as I clear out areas. I've got a bundle of cash, though. Something like $18,000 and I haven't even left Detroit after the intro mission.

Being a hoarder also stinks. I'm currently accumulating one of every gun I find and all the ammo for them in my apartment - more running. I've read that everything in there will stay put, but may be unavailable at times. I'm fine with that. I'm doing 100% non-lethal & stealthy if I can, so I don't need a pile of assault weapons... but I still want to mod my guns and make them 'cooler' while they sit in storage.

I much preferred the method in Hitman (I forget which), where you'd find a gun in a mission and as long as you left with it, it became a permanent part of your armory and had it's own spot on the wall.

hitbyambulance wrote:playing Doom3 for the first time since it came out.... learning to deal again with the gun OR flashlight gameplay mechanic.

Duct Tape Mod. It's inconceivable that a space marine in a high-tech facility can't find a single roll of Duct Tape to adhere a flashlight to the barrel of his guns.

But the stressfull part of Doom 3 was playing with the flashlight !!!

Vorret wrote:But the stressfull part of Doom 3 was playing with the flashlight !!!

I know it. I played the entire game without the mod, and couldn't play for more than 3 hours at a time because I was constantly stressed out. I only discovered it long after I had finished. I never went back and used the mod, and probably wouldn't use it if I did play through again.

i will probably use it once i get sick of this ill-conceived design choice. especially annoying with the 'enemy spawning behind you' triggers and the 'locate enemy with light, switch to firearm and fire blindly into the dark, switch back to light to see if you hit, repeat'.

I never recall having to do that.

I was always able to find a nearby light source/lit area to retreat to. So I was able to shoot and see.

But I agree that the "you crossed this line so now something spawns 6 inches behind you" was annoying.

It's amazing how much of your disposable income you get back when you maintain a sole focus on one game. I haven't purchased - or even considered purchasing - another game since I jumped back into FF XIV a couple months ago. It's probably saving me $130 (the equivalent of two new games...or lots of stuff on Steam sales ) a month at this point.

I didn't want to dig up the Skyrim thread just to applaud it, but this is a great game. Took me this long to get into it, but I'm seriously enjoying it more than any other title in the Elder Scrolls line. Tons of actually interesting side-quests, a huge map, and - something I adore - most dungeons and caves have a loop back to near the entrance so you don't have to walk all the way back out through everything you've explored once you're done. I also feel like I can develop my character organically instead of carefully planning skill increases to achieve "the best" character since stats are gone and all that's left is skill points. In Oblivion I painstakingly planned a skill increase path to maximize statistic gains, and it is SO nice not to worry about being gimped in Endurance for health gains per level or Strength for carry capacity.

The interface is my only complaint, but it's not even bothering me much. The "adoption" mechanic is slightly creepy and now I'm wishing I hadn't as I really don't care for little kids crying out "PAPA!" and begging to play a game or get a new toy every time I come home. I go home to dump inventory, sleep until a merchant is open, and that's about it.

I'm currently a level 25 Orc and up to 72 Smithing, 68 One-Handed, 50 Heavy Armor, 50 Block, 40 Restoration, and 45 Lockpick. I usually end up making a Sneaky Archer with Light Armor in these games and opted to deviate.

It you have Hearthstone and some extra money, just build/acquire a second home, then move them there. Voila. You never have to see or hear them again. Or your spouse. Though stopping in occasionally to get gold from your spouse may be useful.

I believe I have all the DLC. I'm still based in the main first town (Whiterun) and haven't bumped into anything like "build your own house" but should look into that.

Skyrim is a great game, I just wish the fighting was more like Dark Souls.

Paingod wrote: I usually end up making a Sneaky Archer with Light Armor in these games and opted to deviate.

That's what I usually end up creating myself. You should do that for your next character, as I think archery is more satisfying than it ever was before in prior games.

Paingod wrote:I believe I have all the DLC. I'm still based in the main first town (Whiterun) and haven't bumped into anything like "build your own house" but should look into that.

With or without the "Hearthfire" DLC, you can buy homes in nearly all the major towns and move the family to any of them. With Heartfire there are a few places that let you buy land and then you can build your own house. Any of these will suffice for having multiple residences. I own 3 plots of land in Hearthfire, but only have a finished house on one of them (where my family currently lives). I also own homes in nearly all the major cities. (I am a bit of a real estate nut in the game, like I wish I could be in real life!)

I'm a sucker for cheap+simple. Knights of Pen and Paper has been much fun for me lately. Nothing complicated about it, but it scratches some sort of itch. Plus you can play it for ten minutes or an hour or whatever.

Turn is in. For some reason Dom is no longer recognizing my stylus on some screens.

I was in a cheap FPS mood. So I started up a couple, and lamented how *bad* the old FPSs actually were.

I think I have Ubersoldier II somewhere...

JCC wrote:With or without the "Hearthfire" DLC, you can buy homes in nearly all the major towns and move the family to any of them. With Heartfire there are a few places that let you buy land and then you can build your own house. Any of these will suffice for having multiple residences. I own 3 plots of land in Hearthfire, but only have a finished house on one of them (where my family currently lives). I also own homes in nearly all the major cities. (I am a bit of a real estate nut in the game, like I wish I could be in real life!)

Interesting. The only thing I really looked up was how to level up Smithing quicker than fumbling mountains of useless and expensive gear. I'm leaving the rest of discovering what's in the game to natural exploration, and it's been a lot of fun.

I've been hemorrhaging thousands to train up Smithing, and land has been a null concern except that I'm hounded by children. It's up to 84 now, so I've got just a short haul to 100 and Dragon Armor. I make a lot of Leather Bracers (1 Leather, 2 Leather Strips) and Iron Daggers (1 Iron Ingot, 1 Leather Strip) for practice. I have to admit disappointment that Ebony Armor (Ebony & Leather components) is no better than Nordic Steel (Quicksilver, Steel, Leather). The chestplate at "Epic" quality is 108 armor for both... but my OCD requires that I have armor mannequins with each set on display.

Paingod wrote:

JCC wrote:With or without the "Hearthfire" DLC, you can buy homes in nearly all the major towns and move the family to any of them. With Heartfire there are a few places that let you buy land and then you can build your own house. Any of these will suffice for having multiple residences. I own 3 plots of land in Hearthfire, but only have a finished house on one of them (where my family currently lives). I also own homes in nearly all the major cities. (I am a bit of a real estate nut in the game, like I wish I could be in real life!)

Interesting.

I've been hemorrhaging thousands to train up Smithing, and land has been a null concern except that I'm hounded by children. It's up to 84 now, so I've got just a short haul to 100 and Dragon Armor. I make a lot of Leather Bracers (1 Leather, 2 Leather Strips) and Iron Daggers (1 Iron Ingot, 1 Leather Strip) for practice. I have to admit disappointment that Ebony Armor (Ebony & Leather components) is no better than Nordic Steel (Quicksilver, Steel, Leather). The chestplate at "Epic" quality is 108 armor for both... but my OCD requires that I have armor mannequins with each set on display.

I don't want to spoil things too much, but getting one of the pieces of land from Hearthfire is a great way to level blacksmithing. You are going to have to make everything for the house. Which also means you are going to need a lot of materials. Which it sounds like you have been using....

TheMix wrote:I don't want to spoil things too much, but getting one of the pieces of land from Hearthfire is a great way to level blacksmithing. You are going to have to make everything for the house. Which also means you are going to need a lot of materials. Which it sounds like you have been using....

That explains the Clay and Stone I've mined so much of and just stuffed in storage because I didn't know what else to do with it, as well as hinges and locks I could make, but nothing's called for it.

That would indeed.

My kingdom for 2 large antlers.

I've checked every shop that *might* have them (they are Ingredients, so it could be General or Alchemy merchants) and have been killing every deer/elk I see - but just can't get those last two antlers needed to finish my house. I've been hunting off and on for three nights now to get those.

I bought/built the Windstad Manor house and have just those two decorations and 4 alters left to make. The alters I'm not so bothered by since the amulets seem purely random.

If I decide to build a new house somewhere, or ever in another game, I'm going to simply ask the steward to buy the decorations and call it done. I only gained a few points of Smithing (from maybe 86 to 94) in building everything myself.

I'll probably just make my own house mod before that. I'm fairly OCD about collecting equipment and the clutter of the houses, while aesthetically pleasing, makes organization a pain in the arse. I'd probably build out a large display/trophy room with a number of mannequins, and in front of each a chest. Iron here, Steel here, Nordic there, Clothes here, etc.

Having worked for everything once, I wouldn't mind cheesing it the second time and giving myself a well organized and convenient home that meets my needs perfectly.

It's a shame there's no Bind/Recall spell. In Morrowind I made an awesome house that was "inside" an alternate dimension housed in a Dwarven cube/key. You could Bind to a spot, open your inventory, use the cube, be inside your house, unload or re-equip, and then Recall back to wherever you were. No travel time, no worries about inventory space - just don't leave the cube inside the house and Recall back... (I did put in a trapdoor entrance in a hidden corner of a temple if that happened)

If I decide to build a new house somewhere, or ever in another game, I'm going to simply ask the steward to buy the decorations and call it done.

Definitely this. You will still get some smithing for making the base components that you need for building the house and additions. But you won't have the pain of trying to furnish.

After my first house, I just pay the steward to furnish the rooms. It can take a while, but that usually isn't a big issue.

You likely would have found the smithing very valuable if you hadn't already leveled so high. I got a ton of points making nails, hinges, etc.

Your brain sucks at video games.

I explored the content creator for Skyrim and it's quite familiar as someone who made a couple minor mods for other Elder Scrolls games.

I've decided to stop playing for a while and will focus on building myself the perfect warehouse for storing stuff, and creating items. I'm tired of trying to either pile everything into a set of five chests and sift through it, or break it out into a dozen dissimilar containers scattered through a larger house.

My floor plan will probably include an armory where I'll store weapons and armor of each kind using mannequins and plaques, along with a chest for odds and ends - like various enchanted items of that type. I'll also need to throw in a forge and accompanying crafting benches, as well as a library/alchemy wing to visually store all the books I collect. I'll do my best to make it aesthetically pleasing, but the primary purpose and build will be for easy item arrangement, display, and storage.

I'll have armor/weapon displays for all types that have both, and then simple armor displays for those that don't have weapons. I think I counted around 18 weapon/armor combos that could be represented, and another 22 types that are just armor - with Dragonbone/scale armor in the middle, sharing a few weapon plaques between them. I'm not overly concerned if I have spare mannequins as I can fill them with odds and ends - clothing or mage apparel.

Any one remember the Skyrim house of horrors, where the guy filled his place with a head collection of all the female heads he can get? And they're stacked perfectly on shelves?

How would you even do that?

Every time I decaffeinate someone, the head does roll around but stays part of the body. There's no way to pick it up and carry it off.

My warehouse is coming along nicely. I didn't feel like fighting the snap to grid feature or spending days finely tuning walls and ceilings, so I used a simple warehouse and cloned it off to start. I stripped out all the existing furnishings and have gotten as far as adding in 16 mannequins, 15 chests, and 120 weapon hangers - all packed tightly against the outer wall. Each mannequin is standing on a smallish Dwemer table, and I've taken a second rectangular table and attached it at 90º to that to form a sort of display case with back wall, and each wall has 8 weapon hangers. The effect is a distinct display table for each kind of weapon/armor group in the game. It's going to get pretty tight in the warehouse when I add another 22 mannequins, dozen or so chests & containers, forge, workbench, grinder, tanning rack, alchemy table, enchantment table, and simple bed to pass time - so I've tentatively named the house "Cramped Warehouse"

I looked around the Steam Workshop, and found a few other "warehouse" homes, but they were all needlessly huge and/or palatial. I don't want to fart around with walking 3 miles of corridors to place all my items. I want clean-cut efficient design.

You may be able to pick it up via the "z" key, but that would be tedious to have to carry it like that all of the way home, unless your victim was right outside your front door. It's possible that console commands were used.

Of course, if it were caffeinated, it would likely run away on its own

I suppose console commands makes the most sense - just teleport or spawn NPC's in your home.

My home mod is done, and published to Steam. They make it too easy. If anyone's up for it, criticism and feedback are always welcome.

Strange thing, though - I had/have some oddities with the mannequins "coming to life" and adjusting poses. When the zone first loads, they're all moving for half a second and then they phase out and respawn in still form... but sometimes one or two respawn with crossed arms or hands on their hips. During my testing, I had saved inside the house and loaded in after adding a few to discover that the new ones had all come to life and were restlessly changing poses and looking around. It was both interesting and creepy.

*Edit: Wow. 74 unique visitors, 17 subscribers, and 3 favorites. I kind of thought this would simply disappear into the mists of Steam and no one would see it.

Wow - it looks pretty cool. I'll have to load it up If I play again. It definitely looks to have an authentic air. Plus, it meets a hoarders needs!

Cylus Maxii wrote:Wow - it looks pretty cool. I'll have to load it up If I play again. It definitely looks to have an authentic air. Plus, it meets a hoarders needs!

My big thing in Elder Scrolls games is collecting items. I try and collect one of everything if I can. That's my game inside the game - collecting and hoarding. The houses I've built have been exclusively for that purpose and not for free stuff and a head start. You'll never catch me making a house littered with skill books and every kind of spell book.

Since the first home is done, if I'm feeling really patient, I might try a stab at a slightly larger residence with more streamlined inventory dumping... but it's hard to do that and still make it look - as you say "authentic". A row of chests is tidy an clean, but visually boring.

I spent a lot of time positioning items "just so" and added scripts to every single one of them so you can't accidentally knock them over or pick them up while trying to open a nearby container... I was forever knocking around kettles, pans, and cups in my Hearthfire house and it drove me crazy. I'd keep stopping and picking them up and struggled to drop them back into place - and then one day I came home and found everything I had handled before was duplicated and I just threw my hands up in the air.

*Edit: It took me 21 hours from first downloading the Creation Kit to finishing the house. I'll still get a lot of use out of it as I've yet to even visit the Greybeards to find out why I can yell frost at people.

Cool. I'll definitely put this on my list for my next play through. I am planning on doing a pure magic run. I found a mod that totally revamps the magic system.

I'm much like you. I like to get complete sets of each armor. I had a collection of daggers going too. Most of my displayed weapons were just those that had neat effects.

Edit: Ooooo.... I like the touch of putting the chests behind the mannequins.

From the WTF was I thinking files...

I decided to try and finish my game of XCOM Enemy Unknown that I had open from months ago instead of starting over. I couldn't recall where I was, but I knew I hadn't beaten it. I loaded it up and there I am, 2 days from completing the Gollup Chamber and I've got an Exault mission to run. Why they hell didn't I just run the last mission and beat the game? It took me an hour or so to finish this. WTF? I just couldn't be bothered?